NEWSPAPERS IN PORTLAND: FREEDOM OF CHOICE

Although The Oregonian, Portland's mainstream newspaper, is struggling like so many others, I am amazed at the plethora of alternative and community newspapers available in this city. This row of vending boxes is typical of so many street corners, and they all have current, free newspapers available. One of them, Willamette Week, even won a Pulitzer Prize in 2005, for a series of investigative articles about Oregon's ex-governor Neil Goldschmidt's sexual abuse of a teenage girl in the 1970s. They also recently broke a story about another political scandal and scooped The Oregonian -- this time about Portland Mayor Sam Adams and his sexual relationship with a teenage legislative intern. (Is there a pattern here?) By the way, he's still mayor.

However, The Oregonian has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize nearly every year since 1993. They've won a total of five in the last ten years. I recently had my opinion writing students read the 2006 Pulitzer-Prize winning series of editorials called "Oregon's Forgotten Hospital." It's a horrifying and moving account of the state of affairs in the state hospital in Salem, formerly known as the Oregon Asylum for the Insane. You may know it as the setting for the 1975 movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

A FEW PHOTOS OF THE EVERGREEN COLLEGE'S ORGANIC GARDEN

NIK'S REALITY AT EVERGREEN REVISITED

We visited Nik again on the Evergreen State College campus one rainy day. He took us on a tour of the campus's organic community garden and showed us the inside of his "quad," which he shares with two other guys. He's already written an article for the alternative newspaper on campus, the Counterpoint Journal. It's about a "free" flea market in Olympia, where everyone brings stuff they don't want anymore and gives it away. One would think that Evergreen's own newspaper, the Cooper Point Journal, would be alternative enough, but I guess that's not the way it works. Some student wrote a wonderfully creative guide for new students, in which he reminded them that RAs (resident assistants) are agents of the state.

THE LILAC GARDEN OF ALL TIME

Kent knew of this curious place from a previous trip and so one day we stopped at the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens in Woodland, Washington. I almost wept for how sad it was to be there out of season. Hulda emigrated from Germany in 1865 and became a lilac fanatic over the years. This quaint little farmhouse is the original 1889 home and the surrounding four acres is now a historic site. She herself developed 14 new varieties of lilacs, and they are all showcased in these gardens. If you're ever in the area during lilac season, it would be a sight to see.

The Trick-or-Treaters

Truman (Spiderman) joins his friends Julius (as a weird dragon) and Mailee (as Dora the Explorer) and Julius's baby sister Simone (as a darling zebra) for a night of excess.

PORTLAND GHOSTS, WITCHES AND SPIDERMAN

I accompanied Alex, Norris and some of their friends while they guided their toddlers (and a few babies) through the complex maze of trick-and-treating. The weather was mild and dry, a surprise ending to a day of intermittent showers. We did our business in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, a short distance from their home. It's a lovely area near Reed College -- winding streets, lots of gorgeous trees, and -- most important last night -- a determination to celebrate the night. I saw some of the most elaborate scary yards ever -- skeletons rising out of graves, eerie smoke rising everywhere, creepy music and selective lighting. It seemed that thousands of kids wandered around, everyone in a festive mood. One home had erected a party tent on their lawn and were sharing pizza and beer with their neighbors. One woman sat in a chair next to a portable fire pit in her driveway, drinking a glass of wine and tossing candy out to the costumed kids.

Truman and his friends lasted about an hour, but made a pretty good haul just in that time. By the time we arrived home to eat our pizza, he had crunched up a Tootsie Roll Pop, chomped down a stick of red licorice and was begging for more. The morning after report includes two candy bars before breakfast. (Apparently, he found the plastic pumpkin, even though it was hidden.) Alex and her young, diligent parents were shocked to hear what I told them about what my brother and I were directed to chant at the homes of Grandpa Ralph's friends and relatives: "Trick or treat, money or eats; beer or booze for Daddy." Then we'd stop for a visit at each of those homes. Different times!

THE JACKSONVILLE HISTORIC CEMETERY

We visited this fascinating cemetery here in Jacksonville, which included many graves almost 200 years old, including a "pauper" section. The landscape shot is taken from the edge of the cemetery. Looks very much like New England.